Answering The Roman Catholic Church 20

This is the 21st post I’ve written, challenging the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. You’d be a very rare catholic to make it this far.

If you’re a Roman Catholic and have read every post so far, the answer is this – God wanted you to read all these pages, so you can come to repentance. Odds are, if you have, you’re either completely in shock that almost everything your church has taught has been wrong, in which case I’m going to appeal to you to be born again biblically, so that you can enter the kingdom of heaven.

Odds are far more likely that you’re a Roman Catholic apologist, going through all these pages to look for a way to argue. I’m going to repeat what I said above – God obviously brought you here to be saved. Don’t wait. Pray about it. Seek the Lord. Not your priest, the Lord.

Now we turn to something I’m definitely not going to be able to sum up all the problems with briefly. I’ll have to add posts to this topic later, as I’m needing to tend to many other subjects, and this one is going to be far from done.

That subject is the virgin Mary.

I could write dozens of posts refuting everything on this subject. Again, I’ll have to come back later and add more to this.

1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt, which dwell at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros, saying, 2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; and, behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwelleth therein, 3 Because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, and to serve other gods, whom they knew not, neither they, ye, nor your fathers. 4 Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate. 5 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods. 6 Wherefore my fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as at this day. 7 Therefore now thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; Wherefore commit ye this great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and suckling, out of Judah, to leave you none to remain; 8 In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth? 9 Have ye forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they have committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem? 10 They are not humbled even unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers. 11 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah. Jeremiah 44:1-11 (KJV)

I know that the tendancy of fallen humanity is to skip over bible verses, to keep reading the commentary- but that’s why I’m having to write so many pages, correcting errors! I’ve made it easier, by highlighting certain words, but please do NOT take my word for what the Bible says, read it!

Who are the other gods, that they went in to worship and serve, and burn incesnse before? Ba’al and Ashtaroth, also known in Egypt as Rah and Isis.

cakes… queen of heaven—Cakes were made of honey, fine flour, &c., in a round flat shape to resemble the disc of the moon, to which they were offered. Others read as Margin, “the frame of heaven,” that is, the planets generally; so the Septuagint here; but elsewhere the Septuagint translates, “queen of heaven.” The Phoenicians called the moon Ashtoreth or Astarte: the wife of Baal or Moloch, the king of heaven. The male and female pair of deities symbolized the generative powers of nature; hence arose the introduction of prostitution in the worship. The Babylonians worshipped Ashtoreth as Mylitta, that is, generative. Our Monday, or Moon-day, indicates the former prevalence of moon worship . (A Commentary: Critical, Experimental, and Practical on the Old and New Testaments. Jamison, Fosset & Brown)

The Bible is speaking against worship of the Queen of Heaven.

16 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee. 17 Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger. 19 Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces? 20 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched. Jeremiah 7:16-20 (KJV)

The Lord God will not tolerate worship of any other than Himself.

3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Exodus 20:3-6 (KJV)

(“High places” (2 Chron. 14:3). God does not share His people with foreign deities. Again and again purging pagan worship centers was the first visible sign of O.T. revival. We are not to worship God first. We are to worship Him alone. (Bible Reader’s Companion.))

Worship belongs to God Himself in His three persons of God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost.

16 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; Deuteronomy 11:16 (KJV)

Nobody is to be worshipped besides God.

2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: 3 And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. Genesis 35:2-3 (KJV)

The Roman Catholic Church worships Mary.

“Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy! Our life, our sweetness and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping, in this valley of tears. Turn, then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us; and after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.” (The Salve Regina, Roman Catholic prayer to Mary)

The Roman Catholic Church identifies Mary as Queen of Heaven.

Jesus is called the Righteous King; Mary is called the Merciful Queen. In the papal bull of Sixtus IV, adopted by the Council of Trent, she is called “Queen of Heaven, who intercedes with the King, whom she has brought forth.” Although God is willing to pardon men, His righteousness makes Him very stern, so much so that He caused His Son to atone for our sins. The Son of God is also severe, and although He sacrificed Himself, and died upon the cross, He also commanded His disciples to carry their crosses, and by and by He will judge the world, casting those who have not believed on Him into the everlasting punishment of Hell. Only Mary is filled with mercy. Roman Catholicism attributes to Mary most of the characteristics of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Roman Catholicism in the Light Of Scripture, F.C.H. Dreyer, E-Sword Module)

Now, Roman Catholic apologists will try to object that Catholics do not worship Mary. Actions speak louder than words. How does it look to God? When you pray to anything, that is worship. When you bow before a graven image or painting of any person, that is worship, and idolatry. Offering incense before a painting or image, that is worship and idolatry. Wearing any special items with the image of any person designed to curry their favor and blessings, that is worship and idolatrty.

On the last item, I wore as a 10 year old, a t-shirt with “Arnold Horshack” from Welcome Back, Kotter on it. I was not trying to curry his favor, I was not trying to extend my life, gain blessings spiritually or physically, was not trying to keep myself out of torment for any length of time – I was just wearing a stupid t-shirt. I assume today that shirt would be too small for me. Wearing the t-shirt was just… silly. Which was why I wore it.

I did not decorate the t-shirt with gold and jewels, nor did I offer incense before it, nor pray to it. I did not count the ribbings on the collar as I prayed to Arnold Horshack. As a matter of fact, I never prayed to silly old Arnold. And after watching the silly tv show for 2 years… I was done with it. The t-shirt probably went in the trash. I can’t say I’ve ever missed it.

When you wear special medallions or medals with Mary on them (or Saint Jude or Saint Christopher), you are trying to curry her favor. You are trying to earn merit, favor, blessings in this world and the world to come. You are trying, by wearing the scapular, to lessen the time you spend in Purgatory.

When you pray the Rosary, the “mystery” (the circuit of white beads vs. black) has far more white beads (prayers to Mary) than Black (The Lord’s Prayer).

That’s worship. That’s idolatry. Wearing those items are an offense to God.

Roman Catholic Apologists can try to say what they like. Your words may say one thing, your actions speak another. I’d again, almost prefer the honesty of an apologist to admit, “Okay, we worship her. Here’s why.” Doesn’t make it right, it would just be refreshing to read a Catholic saying, “I know its idolatry! But it’s our tradition.”

The Roman Catholic Church does indeed teach that there is a difference in the kind of worship given to Mary and to God . However, what they do is far different from what they say. And to the common Roman Catholic, that distinction is often not taught – and never practiced, even by the clergy.
They claim we should worship the Lord more than Mary – but in reality, they pray far more often to Mary. There are many, many shrines to Mary. There are countless hundreds of thousands of Churches named for Mary, and perhaps a handful named for the Lord Jesus Christ (John Macarthur claims he can find only one). As already mentioned, the Rosary prays to Mary 9 times per mystery, and only once to the Lord.

By their actions, the Roman Catholic church exalts Mary over God Himself. You may protest again that this is not what the church teaches – I would disagree with that. And certainly, it is what the Roman Catholic Church practices. How does it look to the Lord?

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Author: philipdean2013

Seminary graduate with a Ba. in Theology/Pastoral Studies, Happily married, Independent Baptist. I can't keep silent about what I see going on in Christianity any longer!
Apostasy reigns around us, churches are sliding into worldiness, a whitewashed Gospel is preached everywhere...
"Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. Jeremiah 6:16 (KJV)
So, I'm speaking out. ...Why aren't you???
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